RivCo, local housing partners speak with White House officials about affordable housing efforts

Riverside County officials and its local partners were at our nation’s capital to advocate about their progress with affordable housing.

"We've got to address this now," said Greg Rodriguez, County Deputy Director of Housing and Workforce Solutions.

The county, Lift to Rise and its partners met with President Biden's Senior Economic Advisor, Gene Sperling. They highlighted their partnership, and Lift to Rise's collaborative model that's expanding affordable housing for the region.

“To really shine a spotlight on the Coachella Valley. We have amazing things that we're doing out here, the whole Catalyst Fund and the housing collateral network," Rodriguez explained.

Lift to Rise leads a cross sector regional housing agenda with Riverside County, all 9 local cities and 60+ local partners. They work to keep residents housed and radically increase the supply of affordable housing.

“Three years ago, there were on average in the Coachella Valley, about 38 affordable housing units under production a year. We will have now 600 units in production. We have a pipeline of projects of over 6,000 units. We're actually looking to expand the efforts of this pilot project within Coachella Valley countywide.”

Thanks to federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, Rodriguez tells us they’ve been able to advance affordable housing efforts and impact many lives.

Along with the $15 million from the state through the catalyst fund.

“The investments in infrastructure, in housing in early childhood education, that really are laying a foundation for the growth of this county moving forward," Rodriguez said.

As of now, the county and its partners are on track to add 10,000 affordable housing units by 2028.

They say they will continue to advocate for additional direct resources to build effective housing solutions.